The Great Conversation: Dialectic
From Socrates to Descartes, dialectic was principally a technique of the mind to discover truth: Hegel suggested that the world itself is a kind of mind.
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Great Ideas
How We Learn: The Divided Line in Plato’s “Republic”
Not every individual lesson takes us through Plato’s whole “divided line,” but each orients us toward the next stage, moving from images to Forms.
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The Great Conversation: Aristocracy
Is aristocracy good or bad? What about monarchy or democracy? Do we even need to commit to a single form of government?
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The Great Conversation: Wealth
They say that money can’t buy happiness. All the same, most of us would appreciate the opportunity to check for ourselves.
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The Great Conversation: Religion
Religion is a gigantic subject. The astonishing diversity of religions is only part of the reason; we have also to consider what religion is to different people, or to the same person in different ways.
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The Great Conversation: Mind
“Either there are no thinkers, no thought, no anything; or there is a real bridge between the mind and reality.” — G. K. Chesterton
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The Great Conversation: Courage
The virtues have been a favorite topic of the Great Conversation, and courage has received a surprising variety of definitions, from warlike to explicitly nonviolent.
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The Great Conversation: Angels
The idea of angels provides a wealth of material not just for religious thought, but for philosophical exercises and artistic expression.
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